Kabhie Kabhie

Kabhi Kabhi – Sometimes life comes in full circle! Amit (Amitabh) loves Pooja (Rakhee) since college days.

Pooja gets married to Vijay (Shashi) and conceives Vicky (Rishi).

Vicky falls in love with Pinky (Neetu) – an adopted daughter of the Kapoors.

Pinky is the illegitimate (pre-marital sex locha) child of Anjali (Waheeda).

Anjali is wife of Amit! Anjaili gives birth (legitimate this time)to Sweetie after sleeping with Amit (her husband).

Sweetie falls in love with Vicky! Vicky rejects Sweetie – earning the wrath of Amit – for Amit was a failure in love himself and it hurt him to see that Sweetie would have to live-on with unrequited love – more or less like father, like daughter – also like mother – since her mother (Waheeda) too had been in love with someone else and was afraid to confess to Amit about her pre-marital sex, pregnancy and even delivery! Such a huge secret was hidden by Waheeda!! So a sad Amit reluctantly married an even sadder Waheeda (she was a mother after all who had given birth to a 'nanhi-pari' but never could shower her love on her – sob-sniff) and they 'copulated' lovelessly – thereby giving birth to an entity like Sweetie – whose love for Vicky went unrequited! Like Parent, Like Children – amazing huh!!

Mind it – a 1976 film – pre-marital sex and associated lochas are ramphant – why on earth do the oldies scream and shout at the youngsters saying that the current generation has gone to the dogs! Even they were not adhering to chastity or virginity – how come they expect their sons and daughters...kith and kin to behave all nice and decent and chaste!? Pooja's heart, mind and soul remains with Amit – body with Vijay. Only Vijay is the one who seems to not have had any locha affair – but what does he get as a reward? Pooja's body – well most Indian husbands will quite agree that it is enough – heart, mind and soul are difficult things to handle – it is better that the female handles it all alone – which maximum wives do by dwelling in their reverie – with some distant (existing or non-existing) dream lover!

Life & Compromise - So Pathetic Indeed!

I have only recently realized that in fact I don't really like Yash Chopra's movies. These were really the first Bollywood films I have seen so I just thought - that's Bollywood, it's OK. However, later I thought - hang on a second, how come other movies are so much better than these? Most of Yash Chopra's movies were fine, you can't really see any significant flaws in them but they just lack something. I don't know what it is, it's just that somehow they don't make the right use of their potential.

However, I did like "Kabhie Kabhie" quite a lot. Out of all the movies by Yash Chopra that I have watched, this is the best one. Actually, at first I thought it was really crap but I changed my mind about it.

At first I thought the story was just ridiculous. Now I think it's actually quite good. A fresh look at the question of whether past is really past and if we are allowed to forget it or not. What I liked in the movie was that the characters weren't at all perfect - they had a lot of weaknesses. Especially Big B.'s character, of course. And Vicky, played by Rishi, who really annoyed me at first, but now I think it was a pretty interesting character. So was Pinky. Sweety is terribly spoiled and this begs the question how come that such cultured people could raise such an ill-mannered and silly girl. However, apart from Sweety all the other characters are pretty convincing. The happy ending comes somehow too quickly, like in 'Silsila'. I think that people normally need more time to sort out their problems, but basically I liked the message in this movie.

My favourite character was definitely Vijay, played by Shashi Kapoor, who surprisingly turns out to be the most mature character of all and makes Amitabh finally understand his mistake. Basically, I think Shashi and Rakhee rock in this movie. Rakhee may seem too perfect to some people but I also liked her for that reason, Pooja is really a very likable character. Neetu Singh was also very good, I mean: making a person named Pinky a complex character - that is really amazing.

A year after the classic 'Deewaar' (1975), the Yash Chopra-Amitabh-Shashi combination joined forces once again. But unlike the hard-hitting action-drama, this time they teamed up for a simple, poetic romantic drama.

I am normally a big fan of multi-starrers and family dramas and this is a big reason for my liking this film. The film has about 9 central characters and all of them manage to leave a mark. Also a film starring Big B and Shashi Kapoor is always a must-watch for me. The crackling chemistry they shared between them was far superior to any of the leading heroines of those times. No wonder they did more films together than with any particular heroine!

But in most of these films there is a perennial complaint of Big B tending to overshadow Shashi. But 'Kabhi Kabhie' is a heart-warming exception. Not just compared to Bachchan; but out of the entire bouquet of characters, it's Shashi who creates the biggest impression. His ever- smiling charming persona with a big heart of gold, is a complete delight. My favourite scene was where he went under the table to snoop on his son's telephonic conversation. Also the confrontation scene between him and Bachchan towards the end was terrific. It's just for him, that one could see the film time and again!

The other attraction of the film is we get to see stars like Big B, Shashi, Rakhee and Waheeda Rehman, who were in their youth; being projected in older roles. If these characters were to be played by actors who matched the age, then the film would lose half the charm.

One expects a tight narration in multi-starrers; but here the tone was kept deliberately simple. It's obvious from the start that it's gonna be a very poetic film. But unfortunately this makes the film quite boring and monotonous at parts. In fact the original premise of the Amitabh- Rakhi romance ultimately turns out to be a mere subplot. One certainly expected something more here. But just on the verge of the climax where it appeared we were headed for a melodramatic finish, we are treated to a sudden chase-sequence which was a delightful surprise. The sequence is brilliantly shot with horses, jeeps and motorbikes embroiled in a trail with blasts going off on the picturesque Kashmir mountains behind. It's the ideal finish required for a film like this.

Music by Khayyam and lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi are highlights of the film. But there are just too many songs in the 2nd half which obstructs the pace of the film.

This was a terrific example of the versatility of Chopra who could switch effortlessly between two diverse genres. Although, he is mostly remembered as a 'King of Romance', personally I find him more capable in the action-ventures like 'Deewaar', (1975) 'Trishul' (1978) and 'Kala Patthar' (1979). As a result, 'Kabhi Kabhie' fails to match up to those standards; but is still the best romantic film of Chopra after 'Chandni' (1989).

Many consider it to be a great romantic film or even a poetic film. But for me, this film is special just because of Shashi, the star-cast and for getting to see a whole bunch of actors playing characters far older than their real age!

Kabhi Kabhie is what I'd like to call a complete movie- it has all the fine elements. Good story, great dialogues, great direction- and great acting. Amitabh Bachan, Raakhee, Shashi and Rishi Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman and Neetu Singh gave a convincing and touching performance.

I enjoyed Mukesh's songs. The poetry was simply breathtaking! The scene between Amitabh and Raakhee meeting 20 years later was very touching. It was a very beautiful love story, woven through several generations, and it felt as though it was a journey through several emotions and moments of recollection, remorse, repentance, etc. There was an atmosphere of unspoken love and care in the story. Many untold things took physical shape and meaning only in the hearts of the audience. It was great! All-in-all a 9/10 movie!

I was very interested in seeing this movie for a long time. It was a huge hit when it came out and it was acclaimed by critics as well.

After seeing it, I wondered if this movie would be a success if it came out today. The characters act in weird and sometimes nonsensical ways. Rishi Kapoor's character's actions really have no justification. I did like Shashi Kapoor's character, though.

Overall, this makes me wonder if we see a lot of older movies through rose tinted glasses.